Hallyu! The Korean Wave

Stylish but annoying exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the rise in South Korean culture and style.

The show was a work of art with beautifully designed rooms and display cases all styled to match the objects they were showing.

However the excessive use of light boxes and multiple video screens made some of the items hard to look at, such as a lovely screen which was impossible to see without reflections of a video of beauty products or a big screen from the previous room. It was also sometimes hard to work out which label went with which object.

This was a topic I knew nothing about and felt quite old, rather than informed, when I came out. I found some aspects quite sinister like the very realistic digitally created girl group and the sheer consumerism of a lot of it.

However I did love the clothes both the traditional and the contemporary take on traditions and I might need to go and look up some of the historically based K-television.

Closes 25 June 2023


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